A summary financial statement according to the OHADA Law sets out all accounting information at least once a year within a period of twelve months. This is also called the fiscal year and shall fall under the scope of the annual financial statement.
The duration of the fiscal year shall exceptionally be less than twelve months for the first fiscal year which starts within the first semester of the calendar year. The said duration may exceed twelve months for the first fiscal year which started within the second semester of the year.
Accounts shall comply with the requirements of regularity, genuineness and transparency which are necessary ingredients in the upkeep, control, presentation and the communication of the information that has been recorded.
To guarantee reliability, clarity and the possibility to compare information, the accounts of every enterprise shall take into consideration;
- The respect of terminology and guiding principles common to all the enterprises concerned in the state parties which are signatory to the treaty on the harmonization of business law in Africa,
- The implementation of conventions, methods and procedures standardized according to the professional sectors,
- An organization which shall at all times respond to the necessity to collect, keep, control, present and communicate accounting information relating to the operations of the enterprise.
Annual financial statements shall include balance sheet, income account, table of income and expenditure as well as the attached statement. They shall describe in a regular and genuine manner the events, operations and the state of the fiscal year in order to give a true picture of the assets, financial situation and the income of the enterprise.
Annual financial statements shall as a matter of obligation be given in full or in part depending on the size of the enterprise which shall be determined from the turnover of the fiscal year.
Any enterprise that correctly applies the OHADA Accounting System shall be deemed to show in its financial statements an accurate picture of its situation and operations in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Where the application of an accounting rule appears to be insufficient or ill-adapted to portray this picture, supplementary information or an explanation shall be made in the attached financial statement.